Long Slow Beautiful Dance
by Nyre The Black Rose
Summary: Set in the Music of Life Universe. This is the first in the Universe and covers Tony and Jethro's first anniversary. Tony and Jethro are in a committed relationship. It does contain some mild slash so if this isn't something you like then please don't read it. It's the first time in a long time I have published anything here. I'm new to NCIS and slash so be kind please.


Paring: Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Anthony DiNozzo

Rating: T

Genre: Romance/Mild Slash

Title:_ Long Slow Beautiful Dance_

Summary: Tony and Jethro use their anniversary to reminisce about their relationship and come to a startling decision involving. Based on _Long Slow Beautiful Dance performed by Rascal Flatt and written by Kevin Fisher & Fred Wilhelm._ There is some mild slash so if this isn't your cup of tea just move along.

_This is the first in a series of what is going to develop into a group of stories I have come to think of as the Music of Life Universe. Each story will be based around a song. I hope you enjoy them. _

_Now on with story 1._

Tony and Abby were down in her lab talking about Tony and Gibbs first anniversary. It was coming in 3 days and Tony was getting desperate for ideas. "Come on Abs you gotta help me think of something. Our anniversary is this week-end."

"Well" Abby turned away from her current computer search "have you gotten anything yet?"

"Yeah" Tony said "I got him the Omni Dual Saw he wanted and a gift certificate for Annapolis Performance Sailing it's an online place to buy all kinds of sail stuff. I figure he can use it to get whatever stuff he wants for the boat. But I got all that stuff a couple of weeks ago and I want to something personal now. You know how hard he is to buy for."

"Gee Tony sounds like you got him some really cool stuff but you want more huh… what about a week-end at the Greenbrier or the Hay Adams?"

"I thought about that but what if we get called for a case either just before or during the week-end? I'd hate to waste that money. AND don't even ask me about going to Vance and asking for the week-end off. You know he hates our relationship on more than one level. He would love to ruin whatever celebration we have planned."

"Yeah, why does he hate your relationship with Gibbs? Is it the co-workers having sex thinigy?"

Under normal circumstances he would never discuss Vance's reaction to his and Gibbs relationship but he was tired and frustrated and it tended to make him just a little less taciturn than usual. "Well first of all he is a homophobe, and then we have the supervisor and subordinate relationship. He was really angry when he discovered there are no restrictions on co-workers dating or living together therefore there was nothing he could do about that one. The only thing we had to worry about was the team and rule 12 so Gibbs amended it. As for Vance's homophobia, well that just explains itself, but believe me he hates gay relationships with a passion. Strangely neither Gibbs nor I think of our relationship as a gay one." Tony was staring off into the room and shook his head looking as if that particular statement made no sense to him either. "At any rate those are the reasons I can't ask Vance for anything personal. He'll turn me down, Gibbs will find out and then I'll spend weeks keeping them apart."

At this point Abby broke in "I can see how that wouldn't work. What about a nice restaurant, something like J&G Steakhouse? Eddie and I went there just last week. It was really fantastic."

"Oh yeah" Tony asked her "how's it going with you and Eddie? Is Probie still giving you grief?" Eddie was her new boyfriend, and worked in accounting. But he also knew Timmy wasn't that happy with the relationship. Maybe he needed to talk to McJealous and remind him he and Abby hadn't dated in years and it was time for Abby to move on, well Tim too for that matter.

"Timmy's getting better and yeah Tony, he's really good to me, he even likes the casket." Abby gave a little chuckle and continued "Hey Tony this thing with you and Gibbs… I know you two have been together a year now but how is it really? I mean Gibbs can be hard to be around 24/7."

"Look Abs Just because Jethro and I have only lived together for a year doesn't mean we haven't been in a relationship for a long time… ten years now."

"Wait" Abby began to bounce at what Tony had just revealed. "Ten years… Tony you and Gibbs have been together for ten years and you have never said anything?"

"Abby listen to this it's from what Jethro and I call our song:"

"_Sounds like a scene from the silver screen,  
Yeah, that's how it was.  
Love doesn't always look like a picture perfect storybook,  
Ah, but sometimes it does."_

His eyes closed and rocking back and forth Tony continued:

_"Standing beside him the stars shined even brighter,  
And for a moment all the world was, all the world was still.  
I knew we belonged together the moment my eyes met his,  
And I thought nothing lasts forever, but maybe this one will.  
A deep breath and baby steps,  
That's how the whole thing starts.  
It's a long slow beautiful dance,  
To the beat of a heart..."_

Tony's voice fell off to nothing and a smile burst forth. A smile like nothing Abby had ever seen.

"Wow Tony that's so fantastic, and so romantic. You have to get Bossman something that is in keeping with that song" and the two of them put their heads together to come up with something.

For the first time in a long time, Tony woke up first. He assumed it was the excitement of the day. Jethro had promised to spend the entire week-end with him, well that was if they didn't get a case. He had been praying to all the gods he knew of that no one got murdered this week-end. He untangled his legs and arms from the jumble he and Jethro always seemed to enmesh themselves in every night, and slid out of bed. Gathering up a soft pair of old jeans and a Buckeye t-shirt Tony went into the second bathroom, took a shower and dressed for the day. While Jethro had promised him the week-end, he hadn't promised anything special so Tony knew the casual clothes he had chosen would be just fine. After his shower, he went down stairs to start the coffee and decide what he could make for breakfast. If he could think fast enough and make the food fast enough he might be able to give the love of his life breakfast in bed. Deciding on an omelet, he began chopping the onion, mushrooms, and green pepper. He knew Jethro would complain about the mushrooms and green pepper. It wasn't that he didn't like them, he just felt they didn't really belong in an omelet. Tony smiled and shook his head, he thought about the things Jethro hadn't liked when they first got together and how he had changed his mind on a few of them. The most notable was his clothes, not that anyone really noticed and that was very good, but he did and that was what was important. He thought about how only the team and Vance knew about them and even they didn't know he and Jethro were all but living together. He sighed thinking about how much he wanted everyone to know, to be able to shout his love from the roof tops as it were. As he started chopping again, he felt strong arms slip around his waist and a nip to his neck just under his ear lobe.

"Mmmm" Jethro murmured "you smell fantastic and look and feel even better."

Tony put down the knife and brought his hands up to cover Jethro's. When he was held like this it always made him feel loved, wanted… like he belonged. Leaning his head against Jethro's shoulder, he said "shit Jethro I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed. Why do you always wake before I can?" Tony turned and gave the older man a small pout.

Jethro leaned a little further and kissed the pouting lips saying "because I like to watch you pout when I do." With a quick kiss, he let go and went to grab a cup filling it with coffee. Taking the cup and going over to the table he looked for his favorite section of the paper, grabbed the pair of glasses he always left there and sat down to read.

Tony watched him until he began to read then went back to completing their breakfast. One of the things he had learned during this last year with Gibbs was that not every moment of every day had to be filled with conversation. He was now able to sit with him for long periods of time without saying anything. Tony felt maybe this had to do with finely feeling secure, he knew Jethro was never going to leave him... or even more importantly stop loving him. "So Jethro" Tony finally broke the silence, "did you have anything you wanted to do?"

Jethro looked up from the paper to see an anxious Tony looking back at him. "Not much of anything. Thought I'd work on the boat some, oh yeah and there is some yard work I need to get to in the back yard…"

Tony interrupted with a "HEY you promised. No work on the boat or household chores. Jethro you promised me this week-end. Did you forget it's our anniversary?" Tony was so agitated he jumped up and started pacing the kitchen.

Jethro smiled, getting Tony all riled up was so easy and so fun. Then what Tony said was actually processed through his brain. Sometimes when it came to understanding this relationship with Tony his shortcoming allowed for him to make decisions that caused Tony more angst than he had thought it would. This was one of those times. Jethro got up and stepped in front of Tony to stop his pacing. Wrapping his arms around the younger man, he pulled him in closer for a punishing kiss. "Hey Baby I'm sorry. I shouldn't have teased you, I promised you the whole week-end and you are going to have it. The only thing I have planned is to spend the next two days with you doing whatever you want to do. Is that ok?"

Tony looked at Jethro and could see the honesty in his face confirming his promise. He slapped him flat handed on the chest "you're a real bastard you know that?"

"That's the second B" Jethro answered him. He walked Tony backward to the wall and once there began to deluge his face with powerful kisses. As he nibbled on Tony's ear he murmured into it "So Baby what do you want to do today?"

The combination of kisses and words whispered in his ear was making it difficult for him to think, let alone talk. At times like these Tony knew short and sweet was the way to Jethro's heart. "Bed" was the only word he needed to say and he was being propelled up the stairs.

A few hours later, they lay wrapped around each other basking in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Tony was lying with his head on Jethro's chest drawing tiny, light circles. Jethro was leaving tiny kisses in Tony's hair and lightly dragging his thumb up and down his spine.

"Does this count as doing nothing?" Jethro asked his lover.

"Oh no" Tony replied "this counts as doing plenty of something. Something I think we want to do a whole lot more of right?"

Jethro had to laugh "yeah Babe I admit I can't get enough of you either."

"Mmmmm Jet you know I love it right? When you call me either Baby or Babe."

"Of course I do it's why I do it."

"I know it's a little unusual for one man to call another Baby or Babe, but it just makes me…"

Jethro could feel Tony starting to hide from him again and knew he needed to stop it. Pulling him in for a tighter hug he asked "What Tony, what does it make you feel? I know this is one of those things that is hard for you to talk about but I probably need to know."

Tony thought about Jethro was saying for a few minutes. This was the hardest part of his relationship with Jethro. He thought about the song he had shared with Abby earlier in the week

_The world starts to spin again, you learn things you didn't know then  
Feels like the bloom is off the rose  
But you weather a few storms and you pull out a few thorns  
And together the garden grows and grows  
A deep breath and baby steps  
That's how the whole thing starts  
It's a long slow beautiful dance  
To the beat of a heart  
_

"Why are you whispering Long Slow Beautiful Dance Tony?"

Tony didn't realize he had said anything out loud. "Was I? I didn't realize." He looked at Jethro and knew he was going to have to explain, then he thought about it and realized he wanted to explain. "You know earlier I told Abby this was our song. See every time I hear that song I think of you. See that verse reminds me about how hard we had to work at this when we began. We may have been together as lovers for a year but we've been in a relationship for over 10. We've weathered quite a few storms and pulled out even more thorns but eventually we came to where we are now. When you call me Baby or Babe it reminds me you have chosen me. It's very important to me that you chose me not the other way around. You didn't have me forced upon you." At this Tony returned his head to Jethro's chest and began placing kisses on it again.

Taking Tony's chin in his hand Jethro commented on what he had just heard. "You're right Tony that particular song reminds me of you every time I hear it. But maybe for different reasons. It reminds me that my life with you have been a long slow beautiful dance done to the beat of your heart. You are so very indispensable to me. I could never go back to my life before you. Just a minute I want to get you something" Jethro said as he disentangled himself and began to move out of the room.

"Wait" Tony cried jumping up from the bed. "Presents, you have presents, I have some for you, meet me in the living room and we can open them.

"Ok but you can't get dressed deal?" Jethro said to him as he got ready to go to the spare room where he had hidden his gifts.

"Jet you sly old dog, make me promise something I'd do anyway? You don't get dressed and neither will I. Meet ya down stairs."

Within about 15 minutes they were sitting on the couch with presents stacked next to them ready to trade. Jethro always laughed at the way Tony sat on the couch when they were going to talk as opposed to when they were watching a movie. He always sat sideways facing him with one leg drawn up under the other. He didn't think Tony knew how he looked all open and on display like that, but then again knowing Tony maybe he did. It always made Jethro smile and lick his lips. "Ok Tony you want to go first as you seem to be about to bounce off the couch?"

Tony couldn't help it their anniversary had provided him with the excuse he needed to buy Jethro gifts. "Ok here is the first one. Might seem a little strange for an anniversary gift but you did say you wanted one." He handed over the wrapped gift and waited excitedly for Jethro to open it.

Jethro unwrapped the gift and tried to say something to Tony as the young man began with his unique version of word vomit.

"See" Tony said "it's that Omni Dual saw you wanted. It can cut anything with those blades that rotate in the opposite directions…"

"Tony" Jethro reached over and captured his waving arm. "Tony I remember what it is and what it does. Thanks Baby it will really help doing the woodworking I plan on this winter."

Tony blinked and looked at his lover "Jet I actually picked out the right tool? Wow who'd a thunk it." Tony's smile lit up the room.

Jethro leaned down and picked up the large box handing it over to Tony. "Here Babe enjoy."

Tony tore off the paper and opened the box inside. His eyes opened and he looked at Jethro with a look of adoration. Inside he found DVD's, his favorite gift. "Hey Jet wow what do we have here?" He began to pull out the box sets "Oooh seven seasons of Adam 12, an old time cop show. 4 seasons of Airwolf and what's this Bones?"

"I knew you'd like the old ones but I thought since Bones is so much like our real work you'd like it, besides the lead actor is really hot" Jethro let a smirk come out.

"Yeah I'm gonna really enjoy watching these, especially Bones… if he's a hot as you say. You sure it'll be ok for me to watch it, I mean you are so jealous you know."

Jethro smiled at his and ran his hand up and down Tony's leg raising goosebumps everywhere he touched. "Yeah, you can watch it, after all it's truly a case of being able to look and not touch." He took the envelope Tony handed him and opened it to find a $300 gift certificate for Annapolis Performance Sailing. He looked at Tony and raised his eyebrow.

Tony looked at Jethro his face slightly pink, the only visual showing he was unsure if his choice was acceptable. "I thought you could buy stuff for the boat. I mean you have said you will be taking this one out of the basement, although I don't see how, and sail it. So I thought there was probably stuff you needed but I didn't know what to get so I thought a gift certificate…"

During Tony's second bout of word vomit Jethro stood and walked over to Tony and raised his lips and kissed him… several times. "It's perfect, you did really well. Thank you" and he kissed Tony a few more times. "Tony here is your other gift" he reached into his pocket and held out his closed fist.

Tony looked up with a question "what is it?" he asked trying to open Jethro's hand. "Come on Jet you said it was a gift what is it?"

"Ok here's the deal the gift comes with a question. Will you promise to answer me?"

"Yeah I promise what is it?" Jethro allowed Tony to open his hand and he found a gold key. "A key?"

"Yeah and here's the question" Jethro got down on one knee and taking Tony's hand he asked "so love will you move in?"

Tony had tears in his eyes "yes, oh yes." Tony felt delirious; the love of his life had just asked him to move in… to live with him. He fell into Jethro's arms "thank you, thank you."

Jethro pulled Tony into him for a hug and used his thumb to wipe they younger man's tears. "Ok, Baby don't cry this is supposed to be a happy occasion." He chuckled as he continued to rub small circles in his back. Tony looked up at Jethro and the most beautiful smile Jethro had ever seen broke out. "I thought we could spend the rest of the week-end moving your stuff in here" Jethro added.

"That sounds fantastic," Tony interjected "but I still have a surprise, we have reservations tonight at J & G Steakhouse for 8 pm."

"Wow I'm impressed, how did you get reservations for that place?"

"That'd for me to know and you to never find out" Tony grinned slyly. Seeing a frown start to develop, he quickly added "Oh don't look so scary. The Maître d is an old friend from Baltimore, and before you ask he's not that type of friend. I found the man who murdered his sister just before I left there and told him I was moving here. When he moved here to take the job at J & G, he called me and we got together for coffee. He told me to call him if I ever needed anything. When I found out how hard it was to get into his restaurant I called and asked him if he could get reservations. I told him it was for my one year anniversary with my boyfriend."

"Ugh Tony you know I hate that word." Looking of innocence, he added "oh don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about. We've talked about you calling me your boyfriend. It makes it sound like we are little kids."

"Well what would have me say? You don't like me calling you my lover either. You know we have never really come up with a good alternative. I refuse to just introduce you as my friend, you are way more than that to me and I want everyone to know that."

"Oh and the fact that Vance had apoplexy over it has nothing to do with your choice of words."

"Ok maybe it does, that vein that pops up on the side of his head every time he hears it is interesting."

"And also means you are that much closer to giving him that stroke you want him to have."

"Well that might have something to do with it. Hey it just occurred to me he's going to have that vein popping out as soon as he finds out I have moved in here. He's not going to be able to tell the media people I have my own apartment anymore." A cat that ate the canary smile appeared on Tony's face.

Jethro reached down as far as he could at swatted Tony on the butt. "Ok let's go and start moving all your stuff. Your DVD collection alone is going to take half the day." Jethro slid out from under Tony then pulled the other man to his feet. As soon as Tony was on his feet, Jethro gave him another swat and pushed him in the right direction.

Tony ran up the stairs and hurried into some jeans and a t-shirt, then sat down on the bed to watch Jethro dress. Watching Jethro dress was one of the highlights of his day. There was something about the way his muscles rippled as he moved, the way his clothes reveled parts of his body while keeping others hidden. Like when he put his shirt on and left it unbuttoned and open. It would let bits and pieces of his chest get reveled and covered then reveled again as the shirt provided peaks of his body. Whenever he was sitting around, like on a stakeout, he would pull these memories out and fantasize. It always kept him awake and stimulated for their next time together.

Once they were dressed they headed downstairs, Jethro headed to the basement and grabbed the moving boxes he had picked up on Friday. Tony was delighted to find Jethro had picked up the boxes. It meant this was something Jethro had thought about and planned, something he really wanted.

Walking into his soon to be former apartment Tony was overwhelmed. It had been home for the last 10 years, even though he hadn't been here much in the last year.

Jethro pulled him into a hug "second thoughts?"

"NO! Absolutely not" Tony replied resting his head on Jet's shoulder. "It seems there is so much to pack up, 10 years' worth, where do I start?"

Jethro smiled into Tony's hair "how about I start with that major DVD collection and you start in the bedroom. Use the boxes for everything but the hanging stuff. That was can just lay on top of the boxes we put in the car."

"Ok that sounds good" Tony replied. It's the beginning of the month so we have a while to get everything out. There is a lotta stuff I'm gonna donate, like the furniture. I don't think we need it, do you?"

"No Tony I think we're covered in that arena. Let's stack everything you want to donate in one place… I think the living room will work" Jethro said.

After an hour Tony had the bedroom done, all there was to get was the clothes out of his closet. Looking at all he he amassed in the way of clothes made him shake his head. Not because there were a lot here, there wasn't, but because there wasn't much left here with all he had already taken to Jet's. Jethro was right he was a clothes horse, but that didn't mean he was getting rid of anything. They had decided early on he would use the closet in the guest room and this last bit should fill it up. Jet wasn't going to let him buy any more suits until he got rid of some of these, well he'd think about it.

Tony decided to move to the kitchen. Once it was done they would be finished packing, well when Jet was finished with the DVD's that was. Walking past the living room to get to the kitchen he saw Jethro sitting on a chair packing his DVD's. Walking over to him he dropped a kiss on his head "How's it going? I thought you'd be done by now."

Tilting his head back to look at Tony Jethro responded "so did I. Who thought anyone person could have this many DVD's. When you add these to the ones you have at home I surprised they didn't cause you to have to move out."

"Yeah well until recently I had a lot of hours to fill up. Don't think I'll be adding a lot of new ones from now on" Tony laughed.

"Oh really why's that?" Jethro asked him.

"Well see I have this boyfriend and he really isn't into all of this" Tony waved his hand in direction of the mounds of DVD's. "More of a hands on guy, than a sit and watch kinda guy."

Jethro turned in the chair so he could drag Tony around in front of him. Placing him between his legs he started to drop little kisses on Tony's shirt covered abdomen to punctuate his words. "I" kiss "promise" kiss "we" kiss "will" kiss "watch" kiss "all" kiss "of" kiss "these" kiss.

Running his fingers through Jeth's hair, he had an overpowering feeling of love come over him. How their relationship had gone from employer/employee to friends to lovers still amazed him. He had loved this man ever since he had met him. He also had never dreamed it would go anywhere. As he had told Abby, and the rest of the team, they didn't consider their relationship to be a gay one. Rather Jethro and Tony centric, they were the center of each other's world. They centered each other. Kneeling down Tony took Jet's hands into his "You know how special you are to me right? I mean this relationship is more than I ever thought would be possible. All I want is to keep you safe and make you happy. I know you don't like the keep you safe part but that really is selfish of me. You see if anything were to happen to you I don't know how I'd survive."

"Just don't sacrifice the team for it ok?" at Tony's smile, he kissed his stomach again. "So where are you?"

"Finished the bedroom now I'm moving on to the kitchen. There won't be much I want from there. Then there is just this room… oh yeah and the linen closet. I want my sheets."

"I want your sheets too… I wonder why we didn't bring them over sooner? Oh well I should be done here in about 30 to 45 minutes. Think that'll give you enough time?" Jethro asked him.

Letting go he moved toward the kitchen "should" he told Jet. As he entered the kitchen, he began looking in the drawers to see what he might bring with him. Finally, he had one box filled with everything he wanted to bring over. The rest he would donate to charity. He went back into the living room for boxes to put the things he wanted to donate into and found they really needed more. "Can we come back with more boxes to put all the stuff I want to give away in next week-end?"

Jethro stood up closing the last DVD box, "actually that sounds pretty good. Think all this stuff will fit into the truck in one trip?"

"Probably not, but we can take what will fit today then stop after work next week to get the rest. That way we should have it all out by next week-end" Tony told him.

"That sounds good help me with these boxes, once we fill the truck with boxes we can put in your clothes. I'm sure you rediscovered a whole new closet" Jethro teased him.

Tony laughed "Not that much but close" he smiled. He was well aware that of the entire team, Jet was the one who thought his love of clothes, and the amount he bought, was excessive.

"Good I won't have to add a closet to the guest room. Come on I heard I have a reservation at a high end restaurant." Jethro picked up two boxes and headed out the door.

Tony was right behind him and in no time, they had the truck loaded and were headed home to unpack it. "Why don't we put all this stuff in the guest room and unpack it tomorrow. I know you want it put away, and well this just this isn't how I imagined us spending our anniversary. Not that I mind, considering why we are doing it. I just imagined us doing something different all day."

Jethro looked at him and smirked before turning back to concentrate on driving. "Oh really what exactly did you have planned?"

"How about a shower, then dinner, followed by making love in any place of your choice?" Tony shot back in the same tone.

"Do I only get to choose one place?" Jethro continued to tease him.

"No old man you can choose as many as you can handle" Tony smirked.

"I don't know Tony I can handle a lot of places."

"Yes you can thank goodness" Tony whispered to himself but out loud he said "we'll see, we'll see."

At the same time, Jethro was thinking how much he loved Tony teasing him. To everyone else he was Gib second b stands for bastard s. He relationship with Tony would never work if he had treated him like everyone else did. Gibbs needed someone who would treat him like a normal person, tease him, love him, make love to him, call him on the shit he pulled, keep him from spending his entire life in the basement, live with him, just live with him. Tony had been the first one since Shannon to do all of that. None of the ex-wives had even come close. There were mistakes he had made with Shannon, he couldn't make them again which means he needed to tell Tony how much he loved him, how much he meant to him more often. Reaching across the console he tool Tony's hand into his "Tony you know I do love you right? I'm really serious about our relationship. Shout it from the rooftops serious."

Tony's hand tightened around Jet's and he replied "yes Jet I know. I find it humbling the depth of your love. Your willingness to share your house, that fact our working environment hasn't really changed much even you coming out of the basement for small amounts of time, it all shows me you love more than words ever could."

Jethro was concentrating on Tony's words and came up with something he could improve on "maybe I can get out of the basement more, you know less boat and more movies?"

Tony shook Jethro's hand "don't you dare. First off, we need sometime alone, second you love working with wood and I want you to do things you love. Thirdly, and this is purely selfish, I love the smell of coffee and wood you always carry around. I associate it with love, home and safety."

"Ok" Gibbs an answered back "love, home and safety huh?"

"Yeah… lets finish and get home. I want a shower… a shared shower."

"Works for me" Jethro said picking up a couple of boxes and starting toward the door.

A couple of hours later Tony and Jethro had met up in the bathroom, for that shared shower. Always the faster undresser Tony was ready and setting the water temperature within minutes of entering the bathroom. "Jet" he said "hurry up."

"I'm commin, I'm commin." Jethro gave back.

"Well ya will be if ya hurry up. I know we got a bigger water heater so we could take longer showers but that still doesn't make the water heater limitless." Just then, "yip" was heard from Tony as Jethro came up behind him and quickly slid his arms around Tony's waist.

Placing his chin on Tony's shoulder, he said "mmmmmm know how much I love you?" As usual, Tony shook his head in the negative. "How can you not know? I try to remember to say it every day… sometimes during the day."

Tony leaned back until his head was resting on Jethro's "because if I ever say yes you'll stop telling me. So even now I'm saying, for the record, no I don't know how much you me love."

Walking around Tony and pulling him under the warm water Jethro went willingingly then grabbed the liquid soap and placing a generous dollop on his hand began to work it into lather then apply it to Tony's back. Neither of them liked to apply the soap with anything other than their hands, it gave them a feel for the musculature under skin, as their hands slid over soap slicked bodies. "Ummm" Jethro leaded in and whispered in Tony's ear. "You feel so good… I plan on showing you just how good after we come back from dinner."

"Just you remember that promise" Tony husked back.

Jethro moved to his front, and Tony leaned back against the shower tile. Running his hands up and down the front of Tony's was even more fun for him. "You feel so good… I never ever want to get out of here" Jethro moaned.

"You say that now just wait until the water gets cold. You hate cold water. Just sayin whenever you mention water and it's gonna be cold you whine."

Jethro pulled his hand back and smacked Tony on the ass, smirking. "I never whine" he said.

"Hey don't swat at me you do tohine, everybody's always thinkin it I'm just sayin it" Tony laughed. "Here give me that soap I want to get to the restaurant sometime this evening."

It was several hours later when they arrived at J & G Steakhouse. Once there Tony's old friend greeted them. "Hey Tom how are you?" Turning to Jethro he added "and this is my partner Jethro. Jethro this is my friend Tom from Baltimore."

Leading them to their table Tom whispered to Tony "didn't know you were into guys. If I had I would have hit on you myself."

"I'm not, Tom, I'm into Jethro" he walked up behind Jethro and kissed his ear before he sat down.

Jethro had heard him and it brought a small smile to his face. He and Tony had been together for romantically for a year, been in each other's pockets for over 8. It was time for them to move on to the next plateau in their relationship. It was hard to quantify, neither of them was really into men they were just totally into each other.

When they arrived at their table they both shook hands with Tom and sat, looking at the menu. For an Appetizer Jethro chose Oyster Oysters on the Half Shell, while Tony had Salmon Tartare with Avocado, Spicy Radish and Ginger Marinade. For their entrée, Tony chose the 8 / 12 oz Filet Mignon and Jethro had a 14 oz Six Peppercorn Prime NY Steak. To add to their beef they both chose the Roasted Spring Carrots, Jethro had the Sautéed Maitake Mushrooms and Tony indulged in the Black Truffle Cheese Fritters.

Once the order was taken and they ordered their drinks, bourbon for Jethro and a 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley for Tony. Once they arrived and each had taken a sip Jethro lay his hand, palm up, out to Tony for him to place his hand in his. When he did Jethro intertwined their fingers and left them laying on the table.

Looking at their clasped hand Tony said "I guess you are serious about up being open and out there in public."

"Yes I meant it very much. I'm very happy and I want to share it with the world."

"Jet" Tony said as he drew Jethro's hand to his lips "after a day like today I really am compelled to ask you something, something very important."

"Ok Tony what? What do you want to ask me?" Jethro said in response to Tony's question.

Tony rubbed the back of his neck and stuttered a little "oooookkkkkk here goes…. What cha think about us having a baby…. wwwwelll not us physically but an adoption or surrogate." Looking at the concern that was appearing on Jethro's face, he continued "I know you think that a new baby would cause you to forget Kelly. But Jet you haven't forgotten Shannon now that we are together. In fact, I think the three of us get along pretty good don't you. I think it would be the same with Kelly and a new baby." One look at Jethro's face and he started back tracking. "Never mind Jet, never mind we can just forget it. We'll be just like all those other couples that don't have children." He had made a tactile error; he should have never mentioned Kelly. He knew Jethro had come to accept Tony in his life and that he could fit in with his memories of Shannon. He had learned that Shannon and he complemented each other in some weird way. However, a baby that was another issue. That would be a baby coming in and not understanding, he and Shannon needed to be understanding of Jet's moods sometimes.

Jethro moved over to the chair closer to Tony and rested his palm on Tony's cheek. "I'm sorry Baby, let me think about it ok. You sprung this on me and I wasn't prepared. Can I please have a little time to think about it? I'm not saying no… I just saying I need to make sure I can do it."

Tony took Jet's hand, the one on his cheek, and kissed his palm. "Yes Jet, you can have as much time as you need. I don't want to push you and I mean it… you can say no if you need to. We are in this, all of it, for each other."

Their meal was full of good food, bourbon for Jethro and Wine for Tony. For desert Jethro chose the warm chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream while Tony had the J & G Cheesecake with crispy strawberries and rhubarb sorbet.

Sunday morning found Jethro sitting at the kitchen table with coffee and a newspaper. He was thinking about the question Tony had asked him last night. It had been the reason he had been up for several hours. The question was, did he want another baby. Could he handle another baby? Would he constantly be using a new child to cover up all his memories of Kelly? Could he allow a new child to take it's place in our family without over shadowing his feelings of Kelly? Tony was right he had allowed him into his life and he had found he had room for both Tony and Shannon in his life. There is one other huge reason for him to agree, Tony wanted it. He loved Tony beyond reason and Tony had asked him to do this.

Tony came in the room and walked over to kiss Jethro's head before he went to get his coffee. "Hey my love did you sleep well?"

"Yeah Tony I did, well as good as I usually do. But I managed to stay in the bed until around 6 this morning." Jethro stood up and kissed Tony's cheek "I'll be right back and make you some waffles as soon as I get back. I got you some strawberries to go with them."

"Ok want me to get started?"

"Naaaa I want to make them for you. Then back to bed?"

"You know I'm not turning you and bed down."

A few minutes later Jethro came back into the kitchen to see Tony sitting at the table with coffee and the sports section of the newspaper. Walking over to Tony, Jethro got down on his knee and waited for Tony to turn to him.

"Yeah? You need something Jet?"

"Yeah Baby I do. You see I've been thinking… I know I wanted to do this but I know I needed to wait for the right time. I think after our conversation last night now is the time. I know I've done this before and failed… but as I've told you before my experience with you is like my experience with Shannon. I have that same certainty with you I had with her, the same confidence." Taking Tony's hand in his he took a deep breath "Anthony DiNozzo will you marry me?"

"Jet are you sure?" Seeing the certainty in his eyes he answered "Jet… Leroy Jethro Gibbs it would be my honor. I can't think of anything I'd want to do more."

Jethro reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box it contained two rings, one to be used a an wedding ring and the other could be used as an engagement ring. Jethro pulled the ring out and slipped it on Tony's finger.

"The other one is for me?" when Jethro nodded his head Tony said "ok then this afternoon we are going to buy you one too. Do you want them to match?"

"No, oddly enough I just want to wear your ring. We can go and look for rings that are interlocking so there are two rings like yours. Oh one last thing you know the question you asked about us having a baby… well the answer is yes, lets have a baby."

"Are you sure Jet… you want to have a baby with me?"

"Yes"

The next Monday Tony was in Abby's lab first thing.

"Yeah Abbs about this weekend let me just say:"

The house is filled with so much love  
We got more than enough for two  
So we've been thinking about having a baby  
I know it sounds crazy, but it seems like the natural thing to do

A deep breath and baby steps  
That's how the whole thing starts  
It's a long slow beautiful dance  
To the beat of a heart

Abby's squeal could be heard in the bullpen without any amplification.

**End of Part I - **_Music of Life Universe_


End file.
